225 MTSU CELEBRATES OPENING OF $5.5 MILLION NURSING BUILDING

Date: Jan. 19, 2007 Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
School of Nursing contact: Dr. Lynn Parsons, 615-898-2437

(MURFREESBORO) — A standing-room-only crowd attended today’s grand opening of the $5.5 million, 23,717-square foot addition to the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building.
“This building will allow us to accomplish many things for people who are ill and need a nurse,” MTSU School of Nursing Director Lynn Parsons said to the audience that included state legislators, community leaders, alumni and MTSU students, faculty, staff and administrators. “On behalf of our entire faculty, staff and student nurses, our future RNs (registered nurses) wish to convey a heartfelt thanks for the new addition and our entire building. Words can never adequately express our gratitude.”
“We are excited about the expansion of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building and the opportunities we now have to educate even more students in the nursing profession,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said.
“Over three years ago, we developed a strategic plan that called for elevating the status of our nursing program to one of the premier programs in the country,” McPhee added. “Our plan included expanding our facilities to accommodate more students, strengthening the curriculum, recruiting the best faculty and students for the program and providing increased scholarship support for our students.
“We have made great progress toward elevating the academic status of the nursing school: The curriculum has been enhanced, we have raised thousands of dollars for new scholarships, our applicant pool continues to grow both in numbers and in overall quality and today’s event reflects our commitment to improving the facilities and providing our students with a world-class teaching and learning environment.”
David Gregory, an MTSU student in the 1970s who now is vice chancellor for the Tennessee Board of Regents, represented Chancellor David Manning, who was unable to attend because of another commitment.
“When you have a school that pays particular attention to state needs, that’s growth for meaningful purposes,” Gregory said. “And look across the state right now. There’s no greater need than what is happing in the health care arena, and nursing is probably leading that way.
“Just like you have seen Middle Tennessee step up in the role of teacher education in the past, you are seeing Middle Tennessee step up in the area of nursing and allied health professions to meet a particular state need.”
Parsons said up to 66 students in the general program and an additional 150 annually in an accelerated LPN to B.S.N. program can benefit from five clinical laboratories (health assessment, two large medical/surgical labs with critical care and triage beds, an obstetrics lab and a computer simulation lab). All of the classrooms and the clinical labs have multimedia capability, she added.
McPhee and Parsons acknowledged community partner Christy-Houston Foundation and Director Bob Mifflin. The president also acknowledged federal support shown by senators Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander, and Rep. Bart Gordon.
Thomas, Miller & Partners LLC of Nashville was the building designer
###